Beautiful Monster
by ElocinAkira
Summary: A boy with a normal boring life which can be best described as uneventful. A girl sharp as a knife with no solid history. Things take a strange turn when these two cross paths.
1. Field of Light Winds

_Music gives great inspiration. That's all I have to say._

_Summary: A boy with a normal boring life which can be best described as uneventful. A girl sharp as a knife with no solid history. Things take a strange turn when these two cross paths._

"_All my life and the hereafter, I've never seen someone like you. You're a knife, sharp and deadly. And it's me that you cut into." –Ne-Yo_

_An endless blanket of stars flew over me as I ran. My legs burned with fatigue, my lungs gasped for air, and my hair and clothes clung to my body with sweat. I was on fire but freezing at the same time. I felt as though I was going to overload at any moment and promptly pass out. But I kept on going, despite my body's protests. My mind was numb, too numb to think let alone control my legs. My body was doing everything on its own. It was like my instincts had completely taken over and left no room for anything else._

_After what seemed like eons, my legs stopped. I slumped onto the ground, exhausted beyond all belief. I was so tired…it seemed like such a nice idea to take a nap in the nice, soft meadow below me… Even in my barely conscious state, the words of my private trainer rang in my head._

"_Always stretch after you run. Suddenly stopping your movement is very bad for your body."_

_I let out a chuckle as I stretched slowly and lazily. I knew that if I didn't I'd be feeling so sore tomorrow. I lay on my back and stared at the stars for what seemed about a minute before I was off in Dream World with no one but the sweet muse of dreams to interfere with my beloved sleep._

It was a boring day as usual. The most entertaining thing was the fact that Prompto had gotten into a large argument with our English professor about the meaning of a poem. I was currently on my way home. For some reason we lived slightly out of town, near the forest. By we, I of course meant me and a few friends.

I hadn't been living with my parents since I was thirteen. Now it was just me, Fang, Vanille, and Snow. It was a nice, peaceful life. But it could also be extremely boring. Most of the entertainment came from Fang beating the shit out of Snow or Vanille begging Fang to buy her a new stuffed animal. Amusing as it was, it just wasn't enough to keep me occupied.

Even the meadow surrounding our house was boring. It was beautiful, with lush green grass and vibrantly colored flowers, but nothing ever happened there. The occasional coyote passed by, or a rabbit hopped through, but that was about it.

I arrived at our small house and dug my keys out from inside my pocket. All I saw when I unlocked the door and stepped inside was a flash of red, followed quickly by the feeling of someone's arms being wrapped around me.

"Hiya Noct!" Vanille chirped happily.

I chuckled and wrapped an arm around the vibrant girl. "Hi Vanille."

"Vanille, do you really need to do that every single day?" Fang asked.

She merely nodded and grinned brightly. The girl seriously loved me. I was like the big brother she never had, as she liked to put it. I never saw myself as an older sibling, but I suppose I could be.

"Hey Noct," Snow greeted with a grin and a wave. "How was school today?"

"Fine," I responded with a little shrug. "Pretty boring."

"You think everything's boring," Vanille argued.

I rolled my eyes and plopped down on the couch. "Whatever."

"I wouldn't get comfortable just yet," Fang announced in her motherly tone. "You're on water duty today."

We all knew what water duty was. Vanille decided that since we lived in a meadow near a forest, we should take good care of nature. So, every other day, one of us would go and water all the flowers and trees within five hundred square feet of the house. Vanille really enjoyed it, so we did it to make her happy. None of us wanted to see the bubbly redhead sad.

I sighed and stood back up, grabbing the two watering cans from next to the door. I trudged into the kitchen and filled them all the way up with the tap water. Vanille skipped into the kitchen and took one from me.

"I'll come with you," she said with a smile.

"Oh, thanks."

We headed outside, each of us holding a can. I started watering a small patch of wild roses. I could hear Vanille humming as she worked. The work went by pretty quickly since I had her to talk to. By the time an hour and a half had passed, we were almost done. I was just finishing up my last patch of flowers when I heard a scream, followed by the sound of a punch. I dropped my watering can and ran toward the sound.

I saw Vanille running toward me, fear apparent in her eyes. She gripped my arm tightly, nearly yanking it off as she pulled me in the direction she came from.

"Noctis!" she yelled. "There's someone over there!"

_Well, there you have it. Let me know if I should continue._

_Oh! I love to make references with my chapter titles, so try to guess them! Some are obvious, while others are much harder to figure out. If you're interested, then please do try. I found it can be quite fun._

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. The Unknown

_I wasn't expecting anyone to really read this. It makes me very happy that some people actually did and liked it! Thank you very much! Clearly, I'm continuing this story. If you reviewed last time, you can make yourself twice as awesome by reviewing again._

_Sorry for the long wait before updating. I've been super busy with a ton of projects, so I haven't had much time to actually write. I tried to make this chapter longer to make up for it._

_Summary: A boy with a normal boring life which can be best described as uneventful. A girl sharp as a knife with no solid history. Things take a strange turn when these two cross paths._

"_If something is unknown, you want to explore it, right?" –Hatsune Miku_

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><p>I peeked over Vanille's head to try and see what she meant. Someone over there? No one ever came over here. It was a very quiet area.<p>

"Are you sure you saw someone?" I asked skeptically. "You might just be tired or something."

"Noctis!" she exclaimed with a pout. "I know what I saw! There's a girl over there!"

I rolled my eyes and headed in the direction she had come from. I merely meant to amuse her. Imagine my surprise to find that she wasn't lying! In the field, lying beside a small patch of chrysanthemums was a beautiful girl.

She had lovely ivory colored skin; it looked unbelievably soft. Her hair was an odd shade of pink, not having that hue of strawberry blonde. It was strangely attractive in a way. At the moment, she was unconscious. There was a large red mark on her face, in the form of a fist. That would explain where the punching sound came from.

I kneeled down next to her, Vanille cautiously approaching from behind. I lowered my ear to her mouth. The soft sound of breath greeted my ears.

"Is she okay?" Vanille asked worriedly. "I don't know how hard I hit her…"

"She's fine. Though she probably won't be very happy with you."

Despite her skinny arms and legs, Vanille was extremely strong. She said it was from wrestling with Fang when they were little.

The girl groaned as her eyes fluttered open. It seemed that Vanille only hit her hard enough to kind of stun her for a minute. Her ice blue eyes slowly found their way to mine. They were pretty blank, with the slight hint of confusion in them.

"Oh good, you're okay!" Vanille chirped loudly.

I quickly made a shushing motion. "Vanille, do you really think it's a good idea to be that loud right now?"

She covered her mouth and quietly mumbled an apology. I turned back to the pink haired girl, who was staring at us with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes moved over to my bubbly redheaded friend.

"I assume you're the one who punched me in the face," she stated.

Vanille nodded sheepishly. "S-sorry. My name's Vanille."

"Odd name," she commented as she sat up. She rolled her head; there was a clear cracking sound. "That felt quite nice."

"That was your _neck?_" Vanille gaped.

She merely nodded and stood up slowly. I followed suit. Her eyes fell on mine and I almost felt her looking into my soul.

"And you might be?"

"Noctis," I replied. "But I prefer Noct."

"Noctis," she said slowly, as if she needed to grow accustomed to the word.

"So who are you then?" Vanille questioned with a friendly smile.

"That's a good question."

I raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you mean by that? You can't remember?"

"That's exactly what I mean." She pulled out a necklace abstractly in the shape of a lightning bolt. "This is all I have to relate to my past. It looks pretty old with lots of wear, so I must have had it since I was very young."

"Why don't we call her Lightning then?" Vanille suggested sarcastically with a giggle.

"That's actually not a bad idea," I thought out loud. She gaped at me as I looked back at our pink-haired friend. "Does that sound alright to you?"

She shrugged. "What else are we supposed to call me?"

"Lightning it is then."

Vanille then pointed something out. "Why is she barefoot and only in a black dress?"

I took another look and noticed that she was right. She had no shoes, only in a very pretty black party dress. Things had just gotten much weirder (like they weren't already). Her eyes wandered to her own figure.

"Hm. Another very good question."

The more I looked at this girl, the more she resembled the goddess my grandmother had described in stories when I was little. It seemed silly, but it was true.

"How old are you? You might have gotten drunk at a party or something," Vanille suggested.

"I'm only 19," Lightning argued. "And I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't drink, let alone get drunk."

"Well, let's go back to the house and have some tea," I said, thinking that tea was an excellent idea. "Maybe the herbs will jog your memory."

"Perhaps."

We slowly walked back to the house. When we walked through the door, Snow was (of course) the first to make a comment.

"Who's the hot chick, Noct?"

She glared and in a second she was in his face. "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. _EVER_. You will show me some respect!"

He looked ridiculous, cowering from a girl who was younger and smaller than him. Though I didn't blame him. She spoke with the authority of the queen, moved with the swiftness of lightning (didn't plan that, promise), and was as graceful as the goddess she resembled. Her icy eyes only added to the fearful beauty she was portraying.

"Okay, okay, calm down sunshine," Fang soothed, standing up and placing her hands on Lightning's shoulders (Fang definitely may not look or act like it, but she was the best motherly figure I knew). She flinched a bit at the touch but looked the older woman squarely in the eyes. "Now, why don't you just tell us your name and why you're here?"

"Lightning and I'm here to have tea."

I thought it was smart that she didn't explain the whole amnesia thing. It would be best to tell everyone later. I gave Vanille a "be quiet" look. She, being adorable as she is, mimicked zipping her lips closed, locking them, and throwing away the key. I merely smiled and went to prepare the tea.

I had a store of cranberry tea I bought from Plymouth. It was the best damn thing I'd ever tasted. I decided that it would be the best choice and quickly brewed a large kettle-full.

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><p>"So, Lightning, you woke up in the field and you don't remember anything before that?" Fang questioned, sipping her tea.<p>

Lightning nodded. "The only thing I remember is an intense soreness in my legs and being insanely out of breath."

"But nothing else?" I asked hopefully.

She shook her head. I was slightly disappointed. I had hoped we'd actually get somewhere in the memory department.

"Hm. Odd," Vanille commented.

"On a completely different note, I might need to steal that dress of yours," Fang said with a Cheshire grin. "It's sexy."

The pinkette raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

I sighed. "Fang, can you not make completely off-subject topics like that?"

"I'll try, but no promises kid."

"So," Snow chimed in. I noticed he hadn't spoken at all yet. He must've been shocked still that such a pretty little lady could be so terrifying. "Where is she going to sleep?"

He brought up a good thing to think about. I hadn't even thought about it. Maybe she could stay with Vanille? No, she wouldn't like that. With Fang?

"I would like to share with Noctis if I need to share a room."

I looked at her, a little surprised. I supposed it made sense since I was the only one here who hadn't weirded her out or annoyed her.

"That's fine with me," I answered to Fang's questioning look.

Snow grinned. "Of course it's fine with you. You get to share your bed with a hot girl."

This time she didn't even say anything. Instead, she bitch-slapped him across the face. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. Things were definitely going to get interesting.

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><p>I woke up the next morning lying with something curled up in my arms. At first I thought I was back to being 7 years old and I was cuddling with my puppy, Artu. But then I realized the thing I was holding was lacking much hair to be a puppy. That's when I remembered.<p>

Lightning. Chrysanthemums during water duty. That's right…

Said pinkette was curled into a small ball, being held in my arms. She looked perfectly peaceful sleeping, like she was the pure incarnation of rest. I checked the clock. It was only 6:30, and it was a Saturday. Two more hours of sleep wouldn't kill me. I closed my eyes and let myself doze off.

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><p><em>Well, that's it for now! I will update as soon as I can. Reviews make me work faster by the way. ^_^ Love you guys.<em>


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